Picking Bones
by leprofessor
Summary: Brittany, Santana, and Puck's good friend, Jamie, left Lima abruptly two and a half years ago. When she comes back, how will it affect their lives and the lives of other McKinley students? Brittany/Santana, Puck, OC: Jamie


"God damnit, Puckerman," Jamie O'Reilly groaned when she heard the sound of Puck's voicemail again.

"Jamie, could you please try to not use the Lord's name in vain?"

Jamie shifted her attention from her phone to her mother who was sitting in the seat to her left and then rolled her eyes.

"Sure mom," she said, feigning sincerity. "Next time, I'll try really hard. I can't make any promises though." With that, she returned to her previous position.

She had called twelve times in two days and still had heard nothing from Puck. Here she was, sitting in an airport, enduring her last layover before returning to Ohio, and all she wanted to do was talk to him. She wanted to let him know that she was coming back. Proactively. Before actually arriving. The way she should have proactively told him two and half years ago that she was leaving before just taking off.

_Jamie opened the door from the backseat of her father's sedan, planted her feet on the asphalt, and focused her eyes on the building directly in front of her. Lima East Middle School. In Lima, Ohio. She really didn't want to be where she was right now. In fact, she would have been perfectly happy being anywhere else in the world (except maybe North Korea… she'd heard some things)__. As she continued to cast a wary eye at her new school, a body collided with her and soon her body joined her feet on the asphalt._

"_What the fuck?" she muttered under her breath. She looked up to see a boy, not much taller than herself, with a head full of dark curly hair gazing down at her. His eyes widened when he heard her swear. As Jamie got back on her feet, a familiar feeling coursed through her. Her hands balled into tiny fists and she took a couple steps toward the boy when she felt her dad's strong arms wrap around her shoulders. _

"_Noah! Come on!"_

_The boy's head turned when he heard his name and he ran away toward his friends._

_Jamie twisted her shoulders and pushed and pulled against her dad in an attempt to break out from his hold. She was not going to let that kid get away. But her dad knew the drill and just held on tighter._

"_Respire Jamie, respire." (Breathe Jamie, breathe.)_

_Jamie took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. When her dad felt her last heavy breath and was convinced that she was sufficiently calm, he loosened his grip and turned her around to face him._

"_Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé?" he asked. (What happened?)_

"_Ti gason," she responded, disdain evident as she rolled her eyes. (A boy.)_

"_Rappelles-toi, il faut que tu as le contrôle. " __(Remember, you have to have control.)_

"_Mwen konnen. Désolé. " (I know. Sorry.)_

_Alan O'Reilly took his thumb to wipe a dirt spot from his daughter's face. Then he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her in tight, and rubbed her back._

"_Je t'aime," he said as he held her close. "But you have to behave yourself. We cannot have the same problems we've had the past few years. Now go on. Have a good first day. Emphasis on good."_

_Jamie cracked a hesitant smile before turning toward the school. She made her way toward the front doors and thought about what her dad had said. She knew she had to be good. She had gotten into a crapload of trouble at her old school. Her parents never told her directly, but she knew she was the reason they moved from Cleveland to Lima. She'd heard other people call them bad parents. She knew they'd been investigated by the police. She felt extremely guilty. She was a smart kid. She had always done well in school and never really had a hard time making friends. But at the same time, when she got mad, her anger turned into something stronger and would build until she couldn't contain it. And she could never tell anyone why._

Today was not a good day for Santana Lopez. The first day back to school after winter break usually wasn't a good day for anyone. It didn't help that this was the beginning of Santana's last semester of high school and she was feeling extreme senioritis, a condition she had developed as a sophomore. She was anxious to be done with school and finally leave the horrid existence that was Ohio. If she could complete the semester without ever stepping into school again, that would be fantastic. No such luck.

The minute Glee Club ended, Santana was on her feet, weaving through the busy school hallways with her best friend in tow. Once she was in her car and the key was in the ignition, she drove as fast as she possibly could toward the one thing she knew could potentially turn this day around for her. The car pulled up in front of Brittany's house and Santana was already halfway out of the car before she had even turning the engine off. She ran up to the front door of the house, only to turn around and notice Brittany taking her sweet time to get out of the car.

"Come on Brittany! Can we speed this up a little bit?" Santana yelled, her voice filled with need.

"Sorry Santana, the strap on my backpack is stuck in the seat. I can't get it out," Brittany answered, tugging on the bag.

"Oh my god, Brittany, just leave it! We have far more important things to do."

Santana didn't wait for Brittany's response. She fished out her key to the Pierces' house and opened the front door. She ran up the stairs and into Brittany's room and tossed the multiple stuffed animals from Brittany's bed to the opposite corner of the room. When Brittany finally decided to grace the room with her presence, Santana allowed no time for small talk. She walked straight up to her best friend and kissed her hard. Her feet kicked the door closed behind them. Brittany put up no resistance and kissed Santana back with fervor. They stumbled over to Brittany's bed to begin a ritual that they had started almost two and a half years before.

Sex was one of Santana's favorite pastimes, second only to singing. Having sex with Brittany though was second to none. The feeling of being with Brittany was something she couldn't explain. It was hot and wet and a good time, yes. But ultimately, it was just – beyond.

The girls frantically removed their clothing and then Brittany began to do what she did best. She slowly made her way down Santana's searing body, letting her tongue explore every inch of exposed flesh until she got to her final destination. Finally, Santana was beginning to feel much better about what had up to this point been a terrible day. That's when she heard something.

"Brittany! Brittany, are you home? Someone's here to see you."

Santana didn't know when Brittany's little sister Laurie had gotten home. The last thing she wanted was for Laurie to know that she and Brittany were home too. She clenched her jaw tight to stop her moans from escaping her lips. When a minute had passed and Santana had yet to hear Laurie's voice again, she relaxed a bit, certain that Laurie didn't know anyone else was home. She refocused on the pleasure she was receiving from Brittany, getting closer and closer to the glorious point of no return. That's when she heard something creak. She turned her head toward the door and noticed that it was opening.

"Shit Laurie, do not come in here!"

Santana quickly grabbed a sheet and to cover herself up. At the outburst, Brittany stopped what she was doing and shifted her head to look at Santana's livid face with questioning eyes. Laurie's impeccable timing made Santana put another check into the "worst day ever" column.

"Sorry Santana. It's just, there is someone at the front door for Brittany," Laurie explained apologetically from the other side of door.

"Tell them to go away and to come back never," Santana growled.

"Yeah, tell them we're busy doing, um… homework," Brittany added.

Santana heard a shuffle in hallway and figured Laurie had gone back downstairs to pass the word on to the intruder. Then she heard Laurie bound back up the stairs, coming to a stop at Brittany's door.

"She said she can come back if you guys are really busy. Oh, and she said her name is Jamie."

Santana watched a wide eye look overtake Brittany's face and she was pretty sure her face mirrored the same expression. Their previous activity was completely forgotten as Brittany grabbed the sheet that Santana had been using and tied it around herself toga style before exiting the room and running down the stairs. Santana stayed where she was, sitting naked on the bed, shock still present on her face.

Jamie was back.

One of the few people she could call an actual friend was back in Ohio. The one person she thought she may never see again was downstairs.

She heard Brittany screaming with joy from the lower level and imagined the flushed look Jamie was probably sporting from being in such close contact with an almost naked Brittany. She smiled at the thought. Then she quickly put on her own clothes and made her way down the stairs. When she caught her first glimpse of Jamie, she froze, amazed that the girl was in her presence, but also heart-broken by how frail the girl looked. Jamie's eyes rose to meet Santana's and they just stared at each other as Brittany excitedly rambled.

"San, I think Jamie shrunk. She's shorter than the last time she was here. Jamie, you really should be asking Santa to give you some height for Christmas every year. I think you've been slacking."

Santana giggled as she continued her descent down the stairs. When they were finally on the same level, she enveloped Jamie into a tight hug.

"Are you back for good?" she whispered into Jamie's ear.

"Yeah Santana. I'm not going anywhere."

_Santana stood inside of Ms. Carter's 6th grade homeroom, her eyes fixated on the new copy of __The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn__ her parents had bought for her. She knew her best friend so well that she could pick out Brittany's footsteps the second she walked into the room. She looked up to see Brittany and smiled wholeheartedly, glad that their time apart for the day was finally over. When she saw that Brittany was not alone, that smile turned upside down into the patented Santana Lopez frown._

"_Brits, who's that?" Santana asked, giving the girl standing next to Brittany the once-over. _

"_San, this is Jamie… something. And Jamie, this is Santana Lopez, my bestest friend."_

"_It's O'Reilly, Jamie O'Reilly."_

_Santana was thoroughly unimpressed with the new girl and was unhappy that someone was infringing upon her time with her best friend. Also, this new girl was really short and she kinda looked like a bitch. Instead of airing her distaste out loud, Santana just linked her pinky with Brittany's and began walking down the hallway to their first middle school class. Jamie followed behind them._

"_Brittany, I don't like her," Santana whispered into Brittany's ear as they walked._

"_I do. She kinda reminds me of you. You both have the same scowly look on your face," Brittany whispered back._

_This made Santana even more upset. The idea that this new girl could come in and potentially replace her made her furious. She has been Brittany's best friend since kindergarten. She did not need some little Irish named midget stealing her friend._

"_But, I'll always like you best San," Brittany concluded, placing a quick kiss on Santana's cheek as they approached their classroom. Santana's face reddened, partially because she loved it when Brittany kissed her and partially because she was embarrassed by the display. At eleven years old, she was not a genius by any means, but she knew that being kissed, even on the cheek, by another girl was something that some people didn't like to see. In fact, it was something that should not be done in the first place. _

"_Wow, get a room you two."_

_Santana turned her head to glare at the girl standing behind her. Jamie looked amused as she smirked at the two girls._

"_I mean, I don't care, but some other idiots in this school might. So like, be careful with that, I guess."_

"_We didn't do anything," Santana countered._

"_Yeah, I know," Jamie said truthfully. "I'm just trying to be friendly or whatever. Like I said, I don't care."_

_Jamie walked past the two girls into the classroom. As Santana watched her sit down, Brittany whispered in her ear again._

"_See, she's nice."_

_Nice is not exactly the word Santana would use to describe Jamie, but maybe the new girl wasn't that bad. She pulled Brittany along and they sat next to each other in the room waiting for the class to start. But before it did, Brittany had one last bit of pressing news to tell Santana._

"_Oh, San, I didn't tell you! Charity and Ken broke up last night. Ken decided he'd rather be with Barbie."_

Puck settled into the ice tub in the locker room in an attempt to soothe his aching muscles. Over the weeks of winter break, he'd chosen to be party, be lazy, and then party some more. So the first football practice after break was not good to him and his out of shape body was definitely feeling it.

Once the overwhelming sensation of cold had become more bearable, Puck reached for his phone and checked his recent calls. Three missed calls from his mom. One missed call from his dad. Twelve missed calls from Jamie.

It had been a good two years since Jamie had tried contacting him and he was a little curious to know why she was suddenly trying again. At the same time, he did not want to talk to her. He didn't really want anything to do with her. Two days ago, when the first phone call came through, he saw who the caller was and felt as if a tiny little fist was punching him in the gut. Every call since felt like a series of jabs he could not escape. It, in combination with the massive amount of alcohol he'd been drinking, was starting to wear on his stomach.

Each call reminded him of the friendship he and Jamie had. The friendship that Jamie threw away when she left.

"_Noah, this is not funny! Give me back my stickers!"_

_Noah Puckerman just laughed as he held the book of gold star stickers behind his back, out of Rachel Berry's grasp._

"_Aww, poor Rachel wants her stars back. But Rachel, I take your stars every first day of school," Noah answered ba__ck mockingly._

_He and his friend, Finn Hudson, continued to laugh as Rachel cried, neither of them noticing the quick approach of another girl. The other students in the lunch room started to quiet down when they saw the girl walking straight toward the two boys. By the time she was standing in front of them, the entire cafeteria had gone silent except for the sound of their laughter and Rachel's cries._

"_Give her back her stickers," the girl demanded, glaring at Noah._

_Noah looked at the girl and realized that she was the same girl he had accidentally knocked over this morning. She was obviously new to the area and knew nothing about his reputation. He didn't follow directions or do as he was told and everyone knew that. He definitely wasn't going to be taking orders from another kid, especially a girl._

"_Yeah? Make me," he said back while stepping forward to intimidate her. It must have had the opposite effect, because she took the opportunity of him being in such close proximity to grab his shoulders and knee him in the groin. Noah's eyes went wide for the second time that day as he dropped the sticker book and doubled over in pain. _

"_That's also for not saying sorry this morning," the girl whispered in his ear. "Next time, you'll remember your manners, won't you?" Noah nodded. "Good." She then picked up Rachel's stickers and handed them back to her. "Here you go."_

_The cafeteria erupted in cheers. The noise prompted a teacher to investigate the situation. She walked up to Noah, Rachel, and the new girl and asked Noah who had hurt him. Noah was still in too much pain to utter any words._

"_She did," Rachel said as she pointed to the new girl. Noah looked up at the revelation, surprised that Rachel would rat out the person who helped her. The new girl must have been thinking the same thing because she looked perplexed at first, and then just pissed._

"_Is that true?" Ms. Jackson asked to no one in particular._

_Finn, who had been standing behind Noah, nodded in agreement._

"_Alright Jamie, come with me to the principal's office."_

_The new girl, Jamie, looked up at Ms. Jackson and nodded her head dejectedly before following her out of the cafeteria. Before she was completely out of the room, she turned back to look apologetically at Noah and to glare at Rachel._

Puck smiled as he thought about the first time he met Jamie. When she had walked out of that cafeteria without a single complaint, he knew that she had to have been the coolest girl ever. And that was saying something, because at eleven years old, Puck really hated girls.

"Puck. Hey, Puck," Finn called as he entered the locker room.

He opened his eyes and turned to look at Finn.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Finn shuffled his feet on the ground and rapidly moved his eyes to look at anything other than Puck.

"Uhh, well, I heard something. I don't know if it's true, but it has to do with – "

"Jamie?" Puck said, finishing Finn's sentence.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Just a guess. So, what's up?"

Finn chose this moment to look directly at Puck. "She's back man. Jamie's back in Lima."

Puck could feel his heart pounding in his chest. All of the phone calls suddenly made sense. He turned his head from Finn and the lines on his forehead began to crease. He opened and closed his mouth a few times and eventually he said the only word that his mouth could form.

"Oh."


End file.
